The Harbaugh Bowl

Although I hadn't posted about it, I think I did pretty well in the post-season picks this year. I got all four games right in the first week. I went 2 of 4 in the second week (I picked Denver, New England, San Francisco, and Seattle) and then I got both games right this week.

I was a lot less sold on Baltimore, but after they defeated Denver, a friend of mine told me that that he thought that this Ravens team looks an awful lot like the Steelers team that won Super Bowl XL back in 2006. New England wasn't that good when one looked at them closely and they're much vaunted defense was about as bad as I expected. Baltimore would have won by even more if their recievers had figured out how to catch the ball before the second half. There were a number of dropped passes that the defense had nothing to do with.

On the NFC side, I had a feeling about the 49ers but that feeling was tested early when the Falcons jumped up 17-0. Then you could see the tide turning, much like the Seattle game. The only question was whether or not San Francisco was going to shoot themselves in the foot before they managed to take the lead. But they did and they managed to bleed the Falcons down at the end.

So who has the advantage in the Super Bowl? Going with the '05 Steelers parallel, I would say Baltimore. I think their defense is more consistent (even if it is old) and I think they will hit harder than the 49ers, who still seem like a bit of a finese team (although not as much as the Falcons). I also trust the Baltimore offense and it's deep threat better than I do the scrambling QB for the 49ers.